The Bushra Bibi health concern has escalated into a formal PTI demand for immediate hospital transfer after a medical document from Adiala Jail surfaced indicating that Imran Khan’s wife is experiencing blurred vision, a black spot in her right eye, headaches, and light flashes — symptoms that doctors have linked to posterior vitreous detachment.
The PTI expressed deep concern over reports regarding the health of Bushra Bibi, urging authorities to provide her with immediate medical attention and ensure transparency in her treatment. The concern follows a document circulating on social media, titled information regarding the health condition of female convicted prisoner Bushra Bibi, wife of Imran Khan Niazi.
Bushra Bibi has been diagnosed with posterior vitreous detachment in her right eye, a condition that can cause sudden vision problems if left untreated. She is reportedly experiencing blurred vision, dark spots, and flashes of light, along with frequent headaches, signalling the urgent need for medical attention.
Background
Bushra Bibi Health Concern — A Pattern of Medical Disputes in Adiala Jail
The Bushra Bibi health concern is not the first time PTI has raised alarms about her medical condition inside Adiala Jail. It is part of a sustained and deeply contested series of health disputes that have defined her detention since her conviction.
PTI previously expressed grave concerns about Bushra Bibi’s health after ambulance and medical personnel unexpectedly arrived at Bani Gala late at night. PTI Central Spokesperson Raoof Hasan demanded that Bushra be immediately transferred to Shaukat Khanum Hospital, where doctors of her and Imran Khan’s choice could examine her health.
PTI lawyers previously alleged that Bushra Bibi had been diagnosed with ulcers in her stomach and alimentary canal and expressed concerns about possible food poisoning, citing lesions in the alimentary canal and stomach observed during initial investigations. Doctors, however, declared her medical reports as normal.
The current Bushra Bibi health concern follows a pattern in which PTI and jail authorities consistently present conflicting accounts of her medical condition — with PTI alleging deliberate medical neglect and official sources maintaining that appropriate care is being provided.
The Bushra Bibi health concern also arrives at a moment when her husband Imran Khan is himself battling a serious eye condition. Imran Khan underwent a third eye procedure at PIMS, receiving a dose of anti-VEGF intra-vitreal injection. Imran’s family and personal doctors have reportedly requested his admission to Shifa International Hospital, insisting that his personal physicians be granted access to him to monitor and manage his treatment.
Details
Bushra Bibi Health Concern — What the Medical Document Says
The Bushra Bibi health concern crystallised around a medical document that began circulating on social media and was examined by multiple media organisations.
The document states that Bushra Bibi had been examined by a Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences doctor, according to whom the patient had a history of blurring of vision and a black spot in the right eye for the past 11 days. She also complained of headache and flashes in the right eye.
Bushra Bibi underwent a medical examination at Adiala Jail after complaining of discomfort in her right eye. Dr Muhammad Arif Khan from PIMS Hospital conducted a detailed examination of Bushra Bibi inside the jail. Following the checkup, she was prescribed specific eye drops and other medications. The doctor also instructed Bushra Bibi to use a bright-lit place for studying to reduce eye strain. She would undergo a follow-up medical examination after four weeks to monitor her condition.
The examination raised concerns about her eye health. The report identifies myopia and astigmatism, further complicating her ability to see objects up close. Doctors have prescribed a strict routine including the regular use of glasses, special eye drops, and other medications to manage her condition.
PTI’s Specific Demands
PTI called for the immediate transfer of Bushra Bibi to a well-equipped hospital and demanded full transparency of her medical reports. The party warned that the government and jail authorities would be held responsible for any harm to her health.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said a report by an eye specialist from PIMS further substantiates that she is being deliberately deprived of basic human rights and essential medical care. This is not mere negligence, but a continuation of a calculated act of cruelty and political victimisation, he alleged.
Akram said if anything happened to Bushra Bibi, the incumbent government would be held responsible. And relevant authorities and the jail administration would be equally responsible. He said the violation of fundamental human rights under the guise of political revenge was unacceptable and that such actions not only contravened the Constitution but also violated the norms of any civilised society.
The Medical Condition Explained
Posterior vitreous detachment — the condition Bushra Bibi has reportedly been diagnosed with — is a common age-related eye condition in which the gel-like substance inside the eye separates from the retina. It typically causes the sudden onset of floaters, flashes of light, and blurred vision. While PVD is often a benign condition that resolves naturally, it carries a risk of retinal detachment if left unmonitored — which is precisely why PTI is demanding urgent specialist care rather than the four-week follow-up currently prescribed.
The combination of PVD with myopia — near-sightedness — increases the risk of retinal complications, making the Bushra Bibi health concern medically substantiated beyond political allegation.
The UN Concern Bushra Bibi Dimension
The UN concern Bushra Bibi dimension adds an international human rights layer to the current Bushra Bibi health concern. Akram expressed PTI’s resolve to continue to raise its voice against the blatant injustice at every forum and to take all necessary steps to ensure that the matter reaches its logical conclusion.
International human rights bodies including UN special rapporteurs have previously raised concerns about the conditions of detention for both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi — making the UN concern Bushra Bibi thread a continuing advocacy effort that PTI has consistently pursued in parallel with domestic legal proceedings.
The Al-Qadir Trust Case — Why She Is in Jail
On January 17 2025, Imran Khan was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment over the Al-Qadir Trust case, while Bushra Bibi was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the same case. The Al-Qadir Trust case involved allegations that Khan and others in 2019 misappropriated Rs50 billion — amounting to £190 million at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency to the Pakistani government during his tenure as prime minister.
Bushra Bibi has denied all charges throughout the proceedings. PTI has consistently described her conviction as politically motivated.
Who Is Bushra Bibi — Background and Age
Bushra Bibi Age and Early Life
Bushra Bibi was born in the early 1970s into a conservative, politically active landowning family in central Punjab. Her family belongs to the Wattoo clan, a landowning Jat group, of whom the Manekas are a sub-clan. Her grandfather was a landowner, while her father later sold his land and opened a Chinese restaurant.
Sources on Bushra Bibi age differ slightly — multiple biographic sources place her birth in 1974 in Pakpattan or Dipalpur district of Punjab, making her approximately 51 to 52 years old at the time of the current Bushra Bibi health concern. The Bushra Bibi age question has never been officially confirmed by her or Imran Khan’s office.
Disturbed by her troubled first marriage, Bushra Bibi turned to Sufi Islam. As her children grew older, she spent increasing time at the shrine of Baba Farid, a 12th-century Sufi poet and mystic, in Pakpattan. By her late 20s, Bushra Bibi had begun establishing herself as a pir, advising a close circle of friends and family. She reportedly dedicated time to all-night prayers and the study of Islamic mysticism, and also led pilgrimages.
Bushra Bibi and Imran Khan met in 2015 through Bushra’s sister, Maryam Riaz Wattoo.
Quotes
“A report by an eye specialist from PIMS further substantiates that she is being deliberately deprived of basic human rights and essential medical care. This is not mere negligence, but a continuation of a calculated act of cruelty and political victimisation.” — Sheikh Waqas Akram, PTI Central Information Secretary
“This issue is not about an individual’s health. It is a blot on the system. The violation of fundamental human rights under the guise of political revenge is unacceptable.” — Sheikh Waqas Akram, PTI
“If anything happened to Bushra Bibi, the incumbent government would be held responsible. And relevant authorities and the jail administration would be equally responsible.” — PTI Central Information Secretary
“Bushra Bibi said that the condition is still not good, though there has been some improvement.” — Barrister Gohar Khan, PTI Chairman
“Bushra Bibi has no political role and is being unjustly detained to pressurise Imran Khan. She must be released immediately as she is being held in fake and politically motivated cases.” — Kanwal Shauzab, PTI Women Wing President
Impact
For Bushra Bibi’s health, the Bushra Bibi health concern over posterior vitreous detachment is medically significant. PVD combined with myopia carries a statistically elevated risk of retinal detachment — a vision-threatening emergency that requires immediate surgical intervention if it occurs. A four-week follow-up interval, while standard for uncomplicated PVD, may be insufficient for a patient with compounding risk factors.
For PTI’s political messaging, the Bushra Bibi health concern adds a powerful human rights dimension to the party’s existing advocacy. Both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi now have documented eye conditions — a coincidence that PTI is presenting as evidence of deliberate medical neglect rather than coincidence.
For the UN concern Bushra Bibi advocacy track, the new medical documentation gives international human rights advocates fresh material to raise at UN forums — moving the argument from political persecution claims to specific, medically verifiable health conditions that can be independently assessed.
For Pakistan’s prison health system, the Bushra Bibi health concern raises broader questions about the standard of medical care available to high-profile prisoners — and whether the political sensitivity of certain cases affects the quality and timeliness of treatment.
FAQs
What is the early life of Bushra Bibi?
Bushra Bibi was born in the early 1970s into a conservative, politically active landowning family in central Punjab. Her family belongs to the Wattoo clan. Her grandfather was a landowner, while her father later sold his land and opened a Chinese restaurant. Bushra and her sister were sent to Lahore to live with relatives, where they attended Queen Mary College.
She later turned to Sufi Islam, becoming a faith healer and spiritual guide — known as Pinki Bibi — at the shrine of Baba Farid in Pakpattan. She was married to Khawar Maneka for nearly three decades before their divorce in 2017, and has five children from that marriage.
Who is Imran Khan’s third wife?
Bushra Bibi Khan, née Bushra Riaz Wattoo, is Imran Khan’s third wife. She is a Pakistani faith healer and politician, married to Imran Khan who was the prime minister of Pakistan from 2018 to 2022. Imran Khan’s first wife was Jemima Goldsmith, whom he married in 1995 and divorced in 2004. His second wife was Reham Khan, whom he married and divorced in 2015. Bushra Bibi is his third and current wife — the one at the centre of the ongoing Bushra Bibi health concern.
When did Imran Khan marry Bushra Bibi?
Imran Khan married Bushra Bibi on February 18, 2018— approximately six months before he became Prime Minister of Pakistan. The marriage was confirmed by the PTI on February 18, 2018, after months of speculation and denial. The marriage followed Bushra Bibi’s divorce from her first husband Khawar Maneka in 2017. Imran Khan had first met Bushra Bibi in 2015 in Pakpattan, where she was a revered Sufi scholar and faith healer at the shrine of Baba Farid. After a few months of their marriage, the couple performed a pilgrimage to Mecca together.
Conclusion
The Bushra Bibi health concern is a story with multiple layers — medical, political, legal, and human.
At its most basic level, it is about a woman in her early fifties experiencing deteriorating vision in one eye while detained in Adiala Jail, with her party and her family demanding specialist care that they say is being deliberately withheld.
PTI has expressed its resolve to continue to raise its voice against blatant injustice at every forum and to take all necessary steps to ensure that the matter reaches its logical conclusion.
Whether the Bushra Bibi health concern is resolved through a hospital transfer, through the existing PIMS follow-up protocol, or through legal proceedings before an anti-terrorism court will determine not just the health outcome of one patient but the credibility of Pakistan’s prison medical system in the eyes of international human rights observers.
The UN concern Bushra Bibi dimension ensures that this story is not contained within Pakistan’s domestic political debate. The Bushra Bibi age and the nature of her diagnosis mean that the medical stakes are real — and the four-week wait for a follow-up examination may carry risks that no political calculation should be allowed to override.
